Political Quotes

“On the other side of our amendment are exactly those kinds of interests, those kinds of powerful private interests. Various letters have been read into the Record tonight. Yes, those who oppose us are utilities that transferred billions of dollars to the shareholders and parent companies and, frankly, don't seem to think that there is anything wrong with doing that while stiffing Bonneville Power, the western power administration, itty-bitty municipal utilities, and others. The reason we have been able to put this bipartisan amendment together is that we have fashioned a narrow approach to ensure that these public entities get a fair shake. We have fashioned an approach that is not going to put in peril a comprehensive effort in the State of California to deal with this power situation. In fact, we believe that it will create incentives to actually bring parties together and to avert the kind of doomsday scenario that all of us in the Senate want to prevent. The lines are drawn very well. On one side you have Senator Smith and Senator Boxer and myself, and on the other side you have Southern California Edison and those representing a handful of multibillion- dollar private interests that were intimately involved in creating this problem in the first place. I don't think the Senate ought to be asked, in effect by those who botched the job at the State level several years ago, to just trust them.…”